


Weekender

by awarrington



Category: The Eagle | Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Time, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-07
Updated: 2011-11-07
Packaged: 2017-10-25 20:01:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/274186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awarrington/pseuds/awarrington
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marcus and Esca set off on a weekend team-building exercise in the Hampshire countryside.  Written for the fan media meme inspired by the picture of a Volkswagon Beetle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weekender

The further from London they got, the foggier it became, the headlights of Esca’s old VW Beetle barely penetrating the murk by the time they were south of Salisbury. Marcus was reminded of his two years at Ricerca’s Global HQ in Rome, where fog was common in the Fall and crazy Italian drivers got crazier when they couldn’t see ten feet in front of them.

He stared at the satnav glowing on the dash. This definitely rated as one of the most awkward car journeys he’d done since moving to England. He’d never really spoken to Esca, too shy to approach him after their first encounter, one that had imprinted itself indelibly on his memory. It had been at one of his first business meetings after arriving at the UK base, with over twenty staff from various departments present, he’d zeroed in on Esca the moment he walked into the room in his sharp suit, totally his type. As if that wasn’t enough, when Placido from accounting had tried to start some wank over sales figures, Esca went for his jugular, wiping the floor with him, his fierceness leaving Marcus with a ferocious boner, thankfully hidden under the conference table. It had been a sight to behold: awesome and scary. Right after, he’d made a few subtle enquiries about Esca, and had drawn a blank on his sexuality – he’d never taken a date to any of the firm’s public functions.

Marcus discovered fairly early on in life that when he was attracted to someone, his brain went south for a vacation, leaving him frequently tongue-tied or blurting out comments he immediately regretted, both of which made him look like an idiot. Not wishing Esca to see him like that, Marcus had purposely avoided having to talk to him and had managed to confine all their interactions, so far, to meetings where talking business, he sounded at least reasonably intelligent and erudite.

The reason he was now stuck in a car with the delectable Esca was solely down to one person, namely his friend and sales team colleague, Lutorio, who was one of the many Italians working at the UK HQ. He’d befriended Marcus when he’d first transferred from Rome to London, mentoring him until he got up to speed. Lutorio was the antithesis of Marcus: extravert and openly gay, where Marcus was very private and tended to keep himself to himself. To this day he didn’t know why he’d revealed his sexual orientation to Lutorio. He’d done it one evening when they were working late together on a new account and Lutorio had asked him if he was dating. The answer to that (no) had led to further questions and his revelation had delighted the Italian, rewarding him with a clap on his back. Marcus had been quick to add that Lutorio was not his type and further questions on what was, he flatly refused to answer. After that, he’d told no-one else.

The trouble was that Lutorio was a stubborn bastard and wouldn’t let the matter go. One night at a gay bar, plying him with drinks and not-so-sutbly interrogating him, Marcus finally caved and blurted out he was crushing on Esca. All Lutorio had done was smile, which had left Marcus feeling uneasy. When he’d said nothing the next day or any time since, he’d thought the matter had been dropped.

It wasn’t until they’d been told they were all going off to Rockbourne Hall in the Hampshire countryside for a weekend of teambuilding, that Lutorio had casually brought up the subject of Esca. Lutorio’s original plan was that Marcus and Esca would travel down in his car. Then the day before, Lutorio had emailed him and Esca to say the radiator on his car had sprung a leak and was at the garage being repaired; evidently his boss, having heard about it, had offered him a lift. Since Esca was involved in this plan of Lutorio’s, Marcus was deeply suspicious. Of course, when Esca responded to the email suggesting Marcus was welcome to go down with him in his car, he could hardly turn Esca down down.

So, true to form, the trip hadn’t started off well, with Marcus nervous around Esca, managing to end up with his foot in his mouth. As they’d left the building and approached Esca’s battered-looking Beetle, he’d eyed it dubiously and with his brain to mouth filter gone, asked “Will it get us down there okay?”

Esca had turned to him, that firceness flashing in his eyes that he’d seen turned on Placido. “She might not look much, but she’s good for another hundred thousand miles. If you’re worried, go with someone else.”

“Sorry, no!” he said, blushing furiously and hoping the street lights weren’t showing it. “It’s er...I mean, she’s a...cool car,” he added, lamely.

He stared at his shoes as Esca stared at him. “Yeah, she is,” he said after an awkward silence.

Their weekend bags stowed away, Esca put the music on and that had been the end of any conversation, Marcus spending the trip staring out the window. They’d turned off the main trunk road near Fordingbridge and were now heading down some tiny country lane. He was starved and uncomfortable, and hoped it wasn’t too much further to their destination soon. Leaning forward he looked at the display – eight more miles. And that’s when he noticed.

“The satnav’s frozen.”

“What?” Esca asked, turning down the music.

“The satnav. It’s not updating.” He leaned forward and detached it from its mount, tapping the side gently. Nothing. He tapped harder.

“Try rebooting it,” Esca suggested.

Pressing the button on the top, the screen went dark. He counted to three and then switched it back on. Nothing happened. After several more attempts, he wiggled the plug in the lighter socket and tried again.

“Give it here,” Esca said, pulling to a stop. Marcus watched as Esca did all the things he’d just done with as little success. “Huh.” Lifting his hips, he dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled his phone out of the pocket. “Shit, my GPS isn’t working – no signal.”

Marcus pulled his own phone out. “Yeah, no signal on mine either – we must be in the boonies.”

Esca turned to him. “The what?”

Evidently not a term they use in England. “The middle of nowhere.”

“Right – we say ‘the sticks’. No idea why, now I think about it.” Esca glanced around, then twisted to look over his shoulder out the back window before turning back to Marcus. “Let’s see if we can find a house round here.”

Taking off the handbrake, Esca pulled forward, going much slower now he didn’t know where they were going, for which Marcus was silently grateful. They could barely see a few feet in front of them, the headlamps next to useless and the old car wasn’t equipped with low-level fog lights. They had gone maybe a quarter of a mile when the engine cut out.

Esca stared at the gauge in front of him. “Shit,” he said, trying to start the engine again. It turned over but didn’t catch.

With his track record for unwanted comments, Marcus didn’t dare say anything, wondering if they’d run out of gas.

Esca answered that quickly enough. “I filled her up last night and she had her MOT and service only a few weeks ago. Know anything about car engines?” he said, looking hopefully at Marcus.

“No, sorry. I leave that to mechanics.”

Esca laughed and shook his head. “Looks like you were right.”

It was one of those times he didn’t relish it. “Maybe I jinxed it,” he suggested, only half-joking. He’d rather cut his right arm off than admit it, but he was superstitious. He glanced out the side window, not willing to face Esca. “Hey, is that a driveway?” he asked, pointing.

Esca opened the door and got out to investigate, the warmth of the car vanishing almost immediately, to be replaced by the chill night air. “Yeah, looks like it. Give us a hand pushing the car off the road will you?”

Marcus jumped out, glad they’d gotten changed into casual wear before leaving work. Pulling on his jacket he headed towards the rear. Esca stood on the right side of the car beside the driver’s door, leaving it wide open so he could steer, his right hand braced on the doorframe to help push. “Ready?”

With the engine mounted at the back of the car, Marcus had to be careful where he placed his hands as the trunk was hot. “Wait a minute, just getting my gloves on,” he said, fishing into his jacket pockets.

Once he got his shoulder behind it, the car moved remarkably easily, in all likelihood they were on a slight hill that worked in their favour. Within a minute the car was off the road, a few feet down the drive. Esca slammed the door and locked up, though Marcus doubted anyone was likely to steal anything around here. Judging by the complete silence, there wasn’t another car within a mile of them.

The low stone wall at the entrance led to a dirt track lined either side with wooden fencing, beyond which he guessed – since with the fog he couldn’t know for sure – were fields that looked like they might be paddocks. Marcus was so busy peering into the foggy gloom he didn’t see the drive turn into a pool of mud until too late.

“Shit!” he said, skidding. His arms windmilling as he tried to keep his balance, he grabbed onto his companion as the only stable thing nearby and with a startled yelp from Esca, brought both of them down. As he impacted the ground, he felt a sharp pain in his left leg – his old injury protesting being jarred so hard.

“Fuck!” Esca shouted as they hit the soft, sticky ground.

Trying to stand up was problematic as Marcus seemed to have lost his balance, while Esca evidently found the whole thing hilarious and was laughing so hard he couldn’t stay upright for more than a few seconds. With Herculean effort, they finally managed it, but by the time they were clear of the mire, they were both covered in mud.

“Idiot!” Esca said, still laughing, Marcus joining in, in relief as much as anything.

His leg was now hurting, but he tried to ignore it. “You think maybe this just leads to fields?” he wondered aloud.

“I’m not turning back yet after going through that! Let’s go a bit further first.”

They only took a few steps when Esca noticed he was limping. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Old injury playing up.”

Esca seemed to assess him for a moment, and then turned to continue on their way. The fog was so thick they were almost upon the house before they saw it. It looked like a converted barn with few windows facing the drive. Walking around the side, they came to a large wooden door. Esca clasped the knocker – a lion mask with a ring in its mouth – and rapped it twice. God only knew what they must look like, turning up filthy and unannounced on some stranger’s doorstep.

The door opened to reveal a man of, Marcus guessed, around sixty, holding an oil-lamp, its small flame flickering. Maybe they’d had a power cut – it was something common enough where he’d grown up on a farm on the US east coast, though usually they hit during bad weather.

“Hi, our car broke down,” Esca said with a smile. “Can we use your phone?”

The man shook his head. “We don’t have a phone here.”

Marcus was taken aback because who didn’t have a phone – either a landline or a cell phone – in this day and age? Maybe he just didn’t want strangers in his house.

“Who is it, Stephen?” came a women’s voice from behind the old man. A moment later, a woman of similar age appeared.

“They need a phone.”

She turned to them, looking them up and down. “Oh, sorry. We don’t have one. Our house,” she waved her arm around her as if to encompass it, “is very basic. We’ve chosen to live like our ancestors. No electricity, no phones.”

Marcus looked for surprise on Esca’s face and saw none. “Well, can you direct us to the nearest house that _does_ have a phone?” he asked politely. Brits and their eccentrics, Marcus thought; it didn’t faze Esca one bit.

“The nearest house is a farm about three miles away. But it’s tricky to find in the dark in this weather if you don’t know your way around. Do you have a map?”

Esca’s shoulders slumped. “No, I got rid of it after I got the satnav.” Meanwhile Marcus was worrying over the thought of having to walk three miles with his leg hurting. “Can you write down directions?” Esca asked.

The woman looked them both up and down. “I can, or you’re welcome to stay over, if you don’t mind candlelight and getting back to basics. It’ll be much easier to find in daylight once the fog’s burnt off.”

Esca turned to him. “Marcus?”

There was no way he was walking four miles and potentially getting lost, but he felt loathe to hold Esca back, so shrugged. “Up to you.”

Esca nodded and smiled. “If you’re sure it won’t be an imposition.”

The woman smiled back. “Not at all. But we only have one spare bedroom, if you don’t mind sharing.” Marcus felt a spike of adrenaline at the thought of sharing a bed with Esca. “Do you have a change of clothes?” she asked, looking down at them.

“I’ll go get our bags,” Esca said. “Back in a mo.”

As Esca turned back in the direction of the car, Marcus followed their hosts down an unlit hall. He was led into a room that was surprisingly light, considering the only illuminations were candles and oil-lamps. One of the walls was covered in a mural of an ancient hunting scene and the floor was a mosaic with an intricate swastika pattern in tiny red and pale grey tiles. Several couches in the style of chaise-longues surrounded around a low, square table.

“I’m Cottia, by the way,” the woman smiled, pulling his attention back to her. “And this is Stephen, who helps me here.”

“Marcus – Marcus Aquila, and my friend is Esca MacCunoval.”

Cottia laughed delightedly. “Marcus Aquila! A good Roman name!”

Marcus smiled back. “My father was Italian – he wanted to call me Marco, but growing up in the U.S., my mom made him anglicize it.”

“It suits you. Now we were about to have dinner. Have you eaten? You’re welcome to join us. We’re celebrating the Roman festival of Pomona which falls tomorrow and coincides with All Saints Day.”

Just the thought of food made Marcus stomach rumble and he smiled ruefully at the noise. “If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble. But we’ll need to get cleaned up first.”

A noise behind them made Marcus turn as Esca walked in carrying both their bags.

“You’re welcome to make use of our baths. Stephen will show to your room and then take you to our bath house. You can join us when you’re ready.”

 _Bath house?_ Marcus caught the look on Esca’s face and could see he was thinking the same thing.

Their room was illuminated by an oil-lamp and two candles, and was sparsely furnished with a bed that was more a large single than a double. Taking off their dirty coats, they put them on the a large wooden trunk, but held on to their bags for the change of clothes.

“The bath house is at the end of this building. Because of the English weather, it’s attached, rather than separate.”

It was like walking into a sauna, and Marcus immediately broke out into a sweat. The room was bathed in warm light from three oil lamps and several candles placed strategically to give the best light. The floor had a different mosaic pattern to the dining room, that edged the room rather than was the central feature. Ahead of them were two large rectangular baths – deep enough to stand up in – and several stone benches lining the walls.

At the sight of it, he felt a rising panic. If Esca were to undress, there was no way his body wasn’t going to show what he thought of that.

“Er…why don’t you bathe first and I’ll come in when you’re done.”

“Nonsense,” Stephen said. “The bath is big enough for ten!”

Marcus could feel Esca’s eyes on him as he answered Stephen. “Okay, thanks.”

As soon as the door closed behind him, Marcus felt his mouth dry up and his throat constrict. He didn’t think all the sweat that had broken out on his face was due entirely to the heat, either, as he felt a deep blush suffuse his skin. The last thing he wanted was to come out to Esca, but he didn’t feel he had a choice.

He took a deep breath. “In the interest of honesty and full disclosure,” Marcus said, turning to Esca, who was quietly regarding him, “I should tell you I’m gay and so you don’t feel uncomfortable, I’ll wait on one of the benches until you’re done.”

Marcus wasn’t sure what he expected from Esca, but a smile wasn’t it. Not sure how to take it, his heart was pounding as he turned towards the furthest bench.

“Then in the interest of honesty and full disclosure,” Esca said, repeating his words, “I should tell you I’m gay too.”

Marcus spun round, gaping. He had _no_ fucking idea! “Seriously? You don’t seem gay.” As soon as the words were out, he wished he could take them back. Socially inept were probably written into his DNA.

“Uh? I’m not sure how to take that,” Esca admitted.

Marcus shook his head. “Don’t take it any way. I’m being an idiot. Look, you can still go first.”

Esca walked up to him and stood well inside his space, looking up with a smile. “How about we both bathe together?”

“Uh…” Marcus wished something intelligent would come out of his mouth for once. He was one of the company’s top salesmen, but around Esca, he had the IQ of a slug.

Esca walked over to one of the pools and squatting, dipped his hand in. “Shit, that’s cold.” He walked over to the other. “Ah, that’s better. It’s like Turkish baths. Shame they don’t have a masseur here too!”

Marcus would gladly have offered, but now wasn’t the time or place to say it. As Esca began to strip, it took Marcus half a minute before he realised he was standing there staring and started to remove his own soiled clothes, flakes of mud falling to the floor around him. His sneakers were in bad shape, he noticed with a sigh as he removed them and his socks.

Esca was out of his teeshirt and Marcus paused at the button to his jeans, to stare at the perfectly formed back, broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist. He was already half-hard and cursed his lack of control. Just because Esca was gay, didn’t mean he wanted Marcus – he’d never shown any interest in him up to now; and a clear sign that he wanted Esca was frankly mortifying.

A moment later, Esca was down to his briefs and Marcus focused on undoing his jeans and sliding them down his legs. By this point, his heart-rate was through the room as he dropped his briefs and placed them on the haphazard pile of clothes on the floor.

“Fuck, it’s hot!” Esca said with a laugh, walking down the steps in front of them, his voice echoing slightly around the room. Marcus closed his eyes, the sight of the tight mounds of his pale ass forever burned onto his retinas. He walked forward, wanting to get in the water before Esca noticed his physical state. He would have thought the embarrassment would have made him wilt, but apparently his dick had no shame, standing up and begging to be noticed.

Of course Esca turned to him as he was about to plunge in. “Pleased to see me?” he enquired sweetly.

If it was possible, his face heated up even more as he immersed himself. It was at that point that he noticed around the edge of the bath, underwater, was a bench and he perched himself on it, his shoulders just above the level of the water. Esca took up a place opposite him, though his stature meant he was submerged up to his neck. It _was_ hot but it was exactly what his leg needed, feeling the warmth suffuse down to his very bones. Actually, it was heaven.

“This is nice,” Esca grinned. The soft, flicking light created shadows that played across his face, highlighting his sharp features and making his eyes seem very blue. At any other time, this would have been quite romantic, Marcus thought before catching himself: really, that wasn’t a productive thought, so he said the first thing that came into his head.

“I still can’t believe you’re gay.” The notion was still at the forefront of his mind, but as soon as he’d said what he was thinking, he wished he could just shut up or say something intelligent, or even remotely interesting.

Esca looked at him, his head cocked to one side as though considering an interesting puzzle. “My gaydar must be broken,” he said after a while. “I didn’t have you pegged at all.”

The blue eyes that held his with such intensity left Marcus feeling almost unnerved and he looked away. “Mine often is,” Marcus admitted. “Are you out to anyone at work?”

“Only to Lutorio. You?”

Marcus grinned, his earlier suspicion confirmed. “Only to Lutorio.”

Esca’s eyes widened for a moment before he laughed. “You think he was doing some matchmaking?”

“I don’t know.” Marcus was not going to admit he was attracted to Esca in case it wasn’t reciprocated. “I wouldn’t put it past him meddling. Though I doubt he engineered your satnav and car breaking down.”

The door opened and Stephen walked in. “I’ve brought you some towels, he said placing them on the floor beside the pool. I’ll take your clothes and shoes and get them cleaned.”

“It’s okay,” Marcus said quickly, “I can get my stuff cleaned when we get to the conference centre – we were headed for Rockbourne Hall.”

“Yeah, really it’s okay,” Esca chimed in.

Stephen ignored them. “It’s no trouble. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.” He said it like a challenge, a small smile on his lips. That meant no more talking if they were to be washed, dried, dressed and back in the dining room in so short a time.

“Thanks,” Marcus said as Stephen left them to it.

Having a naked Esca so close was distracting and his boner refused to fade. He carefully avoided looking at Esca, because feeding his fantasies wasn’t going to help his priapism any time soon.

Esca was the first to get out, wrapping a towel around his waist as he went to rummage through his bag. He wasn’t looking at the way the water glistened on his skin in the candle light; or was watching the play of muscles on his back as he searched his bag; and he definitely wasn’t staring at the way the towel clung to his pert ass.

Marcus was full-on erect as he tightened the towel around his waist and went to his own bag, carefully keeping his back to Esca both to avoid staring any more like some creep, and to prevent Esca seeing the effect the staring was having on him. Somehow he managed to dress without strangling his dick. When he was done, he turned to see Esca, fully clothed, sitting on a bench, watching him.

“You ready?” Esca asked.

“Yep,” Marcus said, picking up his bag. The hot water and heat had done wonders for his leg, the pain that had lanced through it after his fall, dropping back to a dull ache. They left the bathhouse together.

Walking in the direction of the dining room, they stopped off at their room to drop off their bags, Esca taking a moment to rummage for something. As Marcus waited, he felt the urge to sneeze and pulled out a cotton handkerchief from his jeans pocket to deal with it.

“Seriously?” Esca asked, looking at him with amusement.

“What?”

“A hankie? Who carries hankies around these days?” He walked up to Marcus, who vaguely noticed his heart-rate and breathing increase in direct proportion to the lessening of the distance, wondering what Esca was going to do. Kiss him, he hoped.

Esca caught a corner of the handkerchief. “Blimey, it’s even got your initials on it. What’s the ‘F’ stand for?”

No way was he ready to give Esca _that_ information and have the piss taken out of him for it. He knew Esca well enough to know he wouldn’t come out of that revelation unscathed. “Yeah, like I’m going to give you ammunition!”

Esca grinned. “That bad, eh?”

Marcus wasn’t going to give anything else away and tugging the material out of Esca’s grasp, he put it back in his pocket and left the room.

In the dining room, Cottia was sitting on a couch as Stephen placed a large bowl of fruit on the table.

“Ah, there you are,” Cottia smiled as they walked in. “Take a seat and help yourself.”

Marcus and Esca sat side by side on one of the free couches, earning a slight frown from Stephen. “I don’t think I could eat while I’m reclined,” Marcus explained.

“We enjoy being authentic. Don’t mind us!” Cottia smiled. “Would you like some wine? I’m afraid we only have red – do help yourself.”

Feeling famished, Marcus picked up a rustic-looking terracotta plate and loaded food onto it from various serving dishes as Esca leant forward and breaking some bread from the loaf, dipped it into a small bowl of olive oil.

“So what made you decide to live like this?” Esca asked.

“We wanted a simple lifestyle, to get back to basics. The Roman period is a fascinating one, don’t you think?”

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the Roman era,” Esca admitted, then turned to Marcus. “Is it something they teach in schools in America?”

Marcus smiled. “You mean do we think there’s any history worth knowing before 1776?”

Esca ducked his head, looking faintly embarrassed – definitely a first – then looked at Marcus with a wry smile.

“Yeah, we cover the Romans in high school, and then I studied them in more depth in university.”

“Oh really?” Cottia asked. “Do you have an interest in that period?”

“I have a general interest in history, but with my dad being Italian, having had a few vacations in Italy when I was growing up and seeing all those ruins, kinda brought it to life for me.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Stephen added enthusiastically as he took a place on another couch. “History lives!”

Marcus smiled at the kindly but odd pair.

Later, when they were back in their bedroom, Marcus noticed it didn’t have a door, just a heavy drape that he pulled across. The only window was small and high up in the wall above the bed. The glass didn’t look clear, so he couldn’t tell if the fog was still around. His gaze settled on Esca who was standing in the middle of the room, staring at him.

“Uh, I could sleep on one of the couches in the dining room,” Marcus offered. Even Esca, several inches smaller than him, would have only just about fit on one. But he had to ask, not wanting Esca to feel uncomfortable.

“Is that what you want?” Esca wanted to know.

“It wouldn’t be my first choice,” Marcus admitted. “But that bed is…kinda small.”

“Cozy,” Esca smirked.

Marcus’ eyes widened in surprise. Was Esca _flirting_? “Uh…”

Esca put his hands on his hips and licked his lips. “You fancy me, right?”

Marcus swallowed and nodded, not taking his eyes off Esca. “Yeah, I do.”

Esca walked up to him and put his arms around Marcus’ waist. “Good. Cos I fancy you, too.” With that, he reached up and hooked his hand around Marcus’ neck, pulling him down into a kiss.

Marcus went willingly, having had fantasies about their first kiss more often than he could remember. Having Esca take control of it featured in about half of them. The moment their lips met, the kiss was hungry, as if they hadn’t recently eaten a meal, devouring each other’s mouths with single-minded intensity. Marcus could taste the red wine Esca had drunk, chasing the flavour with his tongue. Without conscious thought, his hands had moved, one to hold Esca’s head in place, his fingers splayed through the soft strands, the other loosely wrapped about his shoulder, so that he almost engulfed the smaller man.

Marcus felt ecstatic, having somehow managed to snare this man he’d been admiring from afar, too intimated to get closer, yet drawn to him like iron to a magnet, the attraction seemingly inevitable.

Esca let out a small hum into mouth, and shifted his hips to press his hard-on against Marcus’ thigh. A thrill went through him at the feeling of it frank and aroused against him, knowing he was the cause of it. He shifted to press his own hot heat more firmly against Esca, delicious pleasure electrifying him as one of Esca’s hands drifted down to cup his ass and squeeze.

Marcus could only hold that position for so long, pulling away to kiss Esca’s forehead. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” Esca agreed. “Bed?”

In between kisses, they slowly stripped each other. Even in the flickering light of the oil lamp and candles, Esca’s skin looked pale, almost luminescent and unlike in the bath-house, he could now take in his fill of the sight, free to look as much as he wanted. Reaching out, he ran the pad of his thumb across one of Esca’s nipples, hearing a quiet gasp and seeing him shudder in response.

“Keep touching me and I’m going to last about two minutes,” Esca said, his face rueful.

Marcus grinned, but kept his hands to himself as he finished undressing. He’d just bent to get his pants off when a glance up caught Esca looking at his thigh, at the ugly pink scars that would one day, he hoped, fade, to blend with his own skin tone. Esca quickly looked away, walking over to the bed and turning it down.

“Moped accident in Rome a year ago. I was going straight on, but a car to my left was turning right. He cut right across my path.” Esca turned to face him, a wince on his face. Marcus grinned wanting to keep the moment light. “It was a compound fracture which needed three pins, so now I set off the security machines at the airport every time I go through.”

Esca smiled and shook his head. “Fucking nutter.”

Esca’s hard cock was clearly outlined in his black briefs and Marcus was itching to see it, touch it, hold it in the palm of his hand and squeeze. Two strides and he was in front of Esca and kissing him greedily, messily, as he pushed his own briefs down. In his haste, the material caught his cock, dragging it down, then releasing it as he pushed them off, causing his cock to thump against his abdomen. A moment later, Esca had pulled away from the kiss and was holding it, making Marcus’ breath stutter as he gave it an experimental tug.

“Gorgeous,” he whispered and dropped to his knees.

Marcus barely had time to breathe in when all the air left his lungs in a loud gasp as Esca’s hot, wet mouth engulfed him, sending a stream of sensations flowing along his nerves. Esca alternated between curling his tongue around the head, licking at the sensitive underside, and bobbing along the length, his cheeks hollowed in as he sucked. His cock was so hard it felt like it would burst out of its skin.

The sight of Esca kneeling, placidly sucking him, while remembering that fierceness he’d shown at that first meeting, was too much for Marcus – he was in very real danger of ending this first encounter prematurely.

“Esca stop, or I’ll come,” he grated out.

Esca released him with a loud popping noise, though the cold air enveloping his wet dick did little to cool his ardour.

“Dude, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Esca said, still gripping his cock as he looked up at Marcus with a grin.

Marcus was momentarily distracted from the comment by the view of Esca, his lips red, swollen and wet, his own cock pointing directly at Esca’s face, as if demanding more attention.

“Uh, how long?” he asked finally as Esca stood up.

“Since I saw you in a meeting – the day I sent Placido packing with a flea in his ear!” he grinned. “I’d just called him on his bullshit and when I glanced up, the way you were looking at me went straight to my cock.” He punctuated the comment by squeezing himself through his briefs. All Marcus could do was stare at where Esca’s hand lingered. “I had this fleeting image of climbing under the table,” Esca continued with a smirk, forcing Marcus away from his distraction, to focus on what he was saying, “crawling over to you on all fours and giving you a BJ right there.”

Marcus closed his eyes for a moment, imagining, then looked at Esca with a smile. “You’d have found me ready for you – I had a hard-on for you that wouldn’t go away,” he admitted, making Esca chuckle. “Fucking inconvenient.”

Still smiling, Esca held Marcus’ gaze as he lay down on the bed, and putting his thumbs inside the waistband of his briefs, lifted his hips in a graceful arch to slowly slide them down, before kicking them off. Set in a bush of fair-coloured pubic hair and lying flat against his abdomen, Esca’s cock was perfectly formed and his for the night.

Licking his lips, Marcus paused a moment to take in the rest of Esca, bathed in the soft light of candles like someone from another time, his blue eyes twinkling in amusement at Marcus’ obvious appreciation. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered and climbed onto the bed to lie beside Esca, not wanting to be further than an arm’s length away.

Lying next to him, propped up on his right arm, Marcus leaned down to kiss Esca again, their tongues curling round each other as he felt Esca’s hand move up to slide through his hair. Despite his stature, there was such strength to Esca, even in the way he kissed, his tongue boldly exploring Marcus’ mouth.

His free hand slid around Esca’s chest, finding a nipple and rolling it between forefinger and thumb, hearing a gasp from Esca in response that went straight to his dick. He rained kisses about Esca’s face, along his jaw and down his neck, using lips, tongue and occasionally teeth to elicit reactions from a surprisingly vocal Esca. He hadn’t expected that at all.

As Esca’s hands explored whatever he could reach, Marcus slowly made his way down the lithe body, stopping to lap at each nipple, mouthing the flat planes of his abdomen, following the line of fair hair that led from Esca’s navel. This close to his cock, Marcus could smell the musk of his arousal, a heady scent he inhaled deeply. From the slit emerged drops of liquid crystal and with a more than a little excitement, he gripped it’s length for the first time, enjoying the weight of it nestled in his palm. He lapped the clear liquid away with his tongue, taking a moment to savour the tangy flavour before engulfing the head, feeling the hot, hard flesh against his tongue, filling his mouth as above him, Esca whimpered with the sudden contact.

Marcus focused on pleasuring Esca, sucking the rigid flesh down to its root and up again, then lapping and gently sucking on his balls before moving his tongue further down, sliding over Esca’s perineum. Esca shifted position, lifting his legs up to reveal the small pink bud of muscle. The sight was so erotic, and he was already so turned on, he had to use a free hand to encircle the base of his dick and squeeze to prevent helplessly coming.

“You’re something else,” Marcus murmured, the comment earning him a smirk from Esca.

Lying on his stomach, his head between Esca’s thighs, Marcus ran the flat of his tongue over the puckered opening.

“Fuck, yes, just there!” Esca whispered in approval and then proceeded to arch his hips and gasp with each intimate touch.

The wanton sounds fed Marcus’ own arousal as he humped the bed in a desperate bid for stimulation. What he wanted…

“I want to…can I…fuck you?” he asked, his voice gone hoarse from need.

“Yeah. Fuck, yeah.”

No sooner had Esca uttered his consent, than Marcus remembered he hadn’t packed any lube, though thankfully at least he always carried condoms. Glancing around, an idea struck him. Kneeling, he ran his forearm across his mouth to wipe away the excess spit and glanced down to find Esca staring at him, slowly working his shaft and looking utterly wanton.

Marcus loved Esca’s easy sensuality and complete lack of inhibition. Grinning he leaned down and gave Esca a brief kiss. “Save yourself, okay?”

Getting off the bed, he found his wallet in his bag and pulled out a condom.

“Give it here,” Esca said.

Opening the packet with his teeth, he handed it to Esca who pinched the end and then slowly rolled it down his dick, the sensation making Marcus shudder. That done, he went over to the oil-lamp.

“What are you doing?”

“No lube, but this might work.” He felt the lamp base, finding only slightly warm. Blowing out the flame he gave it a sniff – confirming it was oil. Perfect. Taking it over to the bed and sitting on the edge, he poured a little of the viscous liquid onto his hand and placed the lamp on the floor.

“I don’t need a lot of prep,” Esca said, pulling his knees up to this chest.

Marcus took a moment to admire the wanton sight, committing it to memory. Reaching out, he circled the hole before pushing a finger inside, feeling the muscles tightly grip him, imagining how it would feel to have his dick in there. As he worked to relax Esca, Marcus leaned down to kiss him tenderly, though it quickly became heated as their tongues danced together fervently.

After pushing in a second finger and feeling the muscle loosen, his hands were almost shaking in anticipation as he stooped to pick up the lamp. He poured a small amount onto his palm before covering the length of his dick until it glistened in the candlelight, twitching in anticipation of being taken into the desirable body laid out before him.

“God you’re beautiful,” Marcus whispered as he climbed back onto the bed, his compliment rewarded with an open smile that left him breathless.

He settled over Esca, lining himself up and when he saw Esca bear down, he pushed in slowly, hearing a gasp as the head of his cock pushed past the ring of muscle. It took everything he had to pause then, instead of ramming home as he desperately wanted to. Slowly, slowly, inch by inch, he sank into Esca, taking ever more possession until he was fully seated and panting with the effort of holding back, droplets of sweat from his effort rolling from his temples down the sides of his face.

Esca grabbed the back of Marcus’ neck, pulling him down into a frantic and passionate kiss. After a minute, in which Marcus was having a running battle with his hips which wanted to thrust, Esca said, “Fuck me, Marcus. Give me all you’ve got.”

And Marcus did, thrusting powerfully into Esca’s tight heat, Esca bucking, arching and colliding with him in perfect rhythm. It couldn’t last, not this first time, his whole body aflame with arousal and an instinctive need to plant his seed; and then it was upon him, waves of pleasure rocketing through him in a shattering release that had him gasping Esca’s name.

Between their bodies, he felt Esca’s fist working himself fast and furious, and carefully pulling out, he pressed two fingers inside Esca to rub over the small bundle of nerves, the action making Esca throw his head back with a groan and arch upwards as he shuddered through a pulsing release, his cock jerking each time it sent a rope of come spattering across his chest.

After more kisses, they settled themselves, Marcus lying with Esca’s head pillowed on his chest, his fingers absentmindedly carding through Esca’s hair.

Esca turned his head and placed a soft kiss on Marcus’ shoulder. “Why aren’t you out at work?”

“Why aren’t you?” Marcus countered.

He felt a gust of warm breath ghost across his skin as Esca huffed out a silent laugh. “Fair point. I feel like who I go to bed with and what I do there is no-one’s business but my own.”

“Exactly,” Marcus agreed.

“Have you never been tempted to take a boyfriend along to any of the shindigs?”

“No. I’ve never been serious enough with anyone. Since uni, I’ve not had anything that’s lasted more than a few weeks.”

“Someone broke your heart?” Esca guessed.

“Yeah.”

They lapsed into silence and at some point, Marcus drifted off into sleep. It was still dark when he woke some time later, becoming aware that Esca, who was still half-sprawled across him, wasn’t asleep either. Apparently aware he’d woken, Esca climbed onto him and already hard, began an assault of his mouth. It didn’t take Marcus long to catch up and in marked contrast to the frantic, energetic coupling of the night before, they undulated together unhurriedly, cocks and mouths kissing until climax overtook them.

Marcus dozed for a while until Esca woke him up. “It’s gone six – we should get up.”

Cocooned in the bed, with a hot guy in his arms didn’t leave Marcus feeling too predisposed to comply with the suggestion. It was only when Esca slipped out of bed that he finally, reluctantly, got up.

The two candles still burning gave them more than enough light to get dressed in. All Marcus wanted to do was to take Esca back to bed again. The thought of spending the weekend with colleagues, doing stupid team games while pretending he and Esca were barely friends, was already driving Marcus nuts. What he wanted was to whisk Esca back to London and spend the rest of the weekend in bed with him. And the rest of the week. And really, as long as Esca would have him.

That thought gave him pause. He was normally cautious when dating, holding himself back and being careful not to get too involved. Esca had guessed right. He’d been like that since his first year at college when he’d thrown himself into a relationship and had his heart broken by a guy who was just looking for a bit of fun. Really he had no idea what Esca was looking for – for all he knew, what they’d shared could have been a one-night stand. Esca was an easy-going guy and didn’t strike Marcus as the type to get too serious. Just the thought that this might be all they were going to share, hurt, making his chest tighten.

Marcus carefully kept his back to Esca, wanting to keep temptation away as he rummaged in his bag to look for clean clothes to wear.

“Shit! Someone’s been in here,” Esca said.

Marcus spun round to see Esca, wearing nothing but his jeans, holding up the sneakers he’d been wearing on the journey down, now completely clean. And there, on the trunk where Esca had found his, Marcus could see his own shoes, together with the jeans and jacket Stephen had taken the night before, all looking pristine.

Given the position they’d woken up in, Stephen could have been under no illusion as to the nature of their relationship. “Well that’s embarrassing,” Marcus said, picking up his items and packing away the jeans. As he bent over to put on his shoes, Esca came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Marcus’ waist and pressing his groin against his ass. Marcus flushed, worried Stephen or Cottia might come in.

“Cut it out, Esca,” he said, straightening up.

Esca immediately released him, gave him an odd look and then turned to put on the remainder of his clothes.

When they were both ready, Marcus pulled the drape back and walked down towards the dining room. There was food laid out – fruit salad, a pot of warm porridge, fresh bread and honey, and some cheeses – but no sign of their hosts.

“Fuck, I’m starved,” Esca said, perching on one of the couches.

“I’ll go see if I can find one of them. Marcus walked from room to room – each one had its drapes tied back – but they were all empty. He next tried the bath-house and knocked on the door, and when he got no answer went in, but there was no one there.

The place was likely a farm and so it was quite possible Stephen and Cottia were out and about. He went to the front door and opened it, seeing the fog had lifted overnight, allowing him to see the sky was lightening in the east. In place of the fog, a westerly wind was blowing leaves off the nearby trees. He stood in the doorway listening for voices, but all he could hear was the pre-dawn chorus of the birds wintering in England.

Back inside, Esca was tucking into the porridge, glancing up with an expectant look as he entered.

Marcus shrugged. “There’s no-one in the house.”

“Huh.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got that walk ahead of us, we should get going soon or we’re going to miss half the weekend.”

Marcus had given that some thought, spurred on by the fact he didn’t want to have to walk too far when his leg still wasn’t one hundred percent. “I’m hoping if we keep heading in the direction we were going, we can hitch a lift from someone.”

Esca nodded. “Yeah, that would be good.” He slathered honey onto a slide of bread and then glanced at Marcus. “Hopefully they’ll be back before we have to leave.”

The food was fresh and delicious and Marcus ended up eating much more than he normally did for breakfast, the sex-marathon having given him more of an appetite than usual. The only thing that would have made it perfect would be coffee, but there were no hot drinks – just fresh-pressed apple juice and water. By the time they’d had their fill, there was still no sign of their hosts.

“What should we do?” Esca asked, standing up. “It seems rude leaving without saying goodbye.”

“We could go outside and try calling to them.”

Putting on their jackets, they left their weekend bags outside the front door and wandered around the side of the house to find themselves in a courtyard surrounded by several other buildings. One turned out to be stables, another a barn, plus a few outhouses, but no sign of anyone.

“Hello!” Esca shouted, his voice echoing around them in the otherwise silence. He glanced at his watch again. “We should make a move. We’re going to have to come back to get the car so we can thank them then.”

“Okay,” Marcus agreed. That seemed reasonable.

The wind was strong and bitingly cold, cutting through Marcus’ jacket and making his eyes water. Fishing in his jeans pocket, he pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose, drawing an amused glance from Esca, which Marcus studiously ignored as he shoved the small square of cloth into his jacket pocket. As they made their way down the driveway, he was thankful there was enough light for them to navigate around the large patch of wet mud they’d fallen in the night before.

At the end of the drive, Esca’s Beetle sat, abandoned. “We should move it off to one side in case any other cars need to get along here,” Esca pointed out.

Marcus pulled out his gloves in preparation, and as he did so, his handkerchief fell to the ground. Before he had a chance to retrieve it, a strong gust of wind caught it and blew it into a nearby bush, too high up to reach.

“Shit,” Marcus said, annoyed. It was one of three he’d gotten from his uncle as a birthday gift several years earlier.

“If you give me a leg up, I might be able to reach it,” Esca suggested.

He considered the offer, but decided it was too risky, since there was nothing for Esca to hold on to. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, putting his gloves on.

As Esca moved around to the drivers door and opened it, a part of Marcus had difficulty believing what they’d shared the previous night, not helped by the fact that since breakfast, Esca had given no indication of it – no touch, not even a look.

Esca climbed in. “Before we start pushing, let me try the engine again.”

Marcus waited at the back of the car and jumped when it spluttered into life. Walking round to Esca’s side, he bent down to see him grinning as he gunned the gas and through the window, he gestured for Marcus to get in. Picking up their bags he threw them into back and slid onto his seat.

“Now we just need to find the place,” Esca said, pulling out onto the small road.

Marcus picked up the satnav and tried switching it on, but it still didn’t work.

“Here,” Esca said, tossing Marcus his mobile phone. “Once it picks up a signal the GPS’ll work. Keep an eye on it.”

There’d barely gone half a mile when the signal strength increased from zero to five bars. Marcus felt his phone vibrate several times, indicating messages. There was a voicemail from Lutorio, shouting above the din of music and loud talking.

“Where the hell are you two? You’re missing the party! When you get here, grab a costume from the conference centre staff, get changed and come up to the Caledonia room.”

Marcus called him, but got no response. He hated leaving voicemails and figured he’d be seeing him soon, so there wasn’t much point. Sure enough, within fifteen minutes, they’d arrived at Rockbourne Hall.

“You didn’t call me back,” Lutorio said them as soon as they walked through the door. “You missed a great Halloween party.”

“We broke down in the middle of no-where, with no phone signal,” Esca explained.

“Well better check-in now.” He glanced at his watch. “We’re kicking off at nine in the Britannia suite, so you’ve got almost an hour.”

Esca nodded. “Cheers, mate.”

Lutorio wandered off as conference centre staff checked them in. Their rooms were a floor apart, with him on the ground floor.

As they walked towards the accommodation section, Marcus said, “Esca, do you—”

“Don’t!” Esca said, his voice harsh.

The tone told him everything and Marcus felt cut to the quick. So that was it. Obviously, all Esca thought he was good for was a quick fuck. No way was Marcus going to let him know that it bothered him. Best way to play it was as if nothing had happened.

They reached the point where their paths diverged, Esca to the lift and him to a corridor to their right. “Catch you later,” Marcus said without looking at Esca. He tried to ignore the fact that his chest was constricting and even though there was no wind inside, his eyes were watering again and fuck it, he didn’t have a hankie any more.

As soon as he got to his room, Marcus stripped and jumped in the shower, wanting to get rid of any evidence of the previous night with Esca. He really wished he could have asked for a lift back from one of the others attending, but after they’d gotten the car going, they’d discussed dropping back at the farm on the way back to say thank you, and he felt obligated to do that given the kind hospitality they’d received from Cottia and Stephen.

What he wanted more than anything was for Esca to come to his room, to be able to hold him again in the circle of his arms, to feel the warmth of Esca’s compact body against his, to kiss him senseless. To his chagrin, he realised he really was smitten.

While the first time they’d had sex had been undeniably hot and enjoyable, the second time couldn’t have been more of a contrast: gentle and unhurried. He’d thought at the time there was a sense of mutual affection between them, but clearly he’d misinterpreted it and more than likely Esca had been like that because he’d been tired for anything more vigorous.

None of these thoughts were helping take away the ache he was feeling. What he needed was a sense of perspective. It wasn’t like they’d been dating – meeting Esca at the main entrance after work the evening before was the first time they’d even talked to each other outside a work capacity, which itself had been limited to a few sentences across a table at various meetings. What he needed to do was to give himself a good kick up the ass and quit moping around like some lovesick teenager. A glance at his watch showed it was time to head up to the Britannia room where he hoped for plenty of distraction. Steeling himself to see Esca and carefully ignore him, he picked up his room key and left.

Not usually fond of large crowds, Marcus was thankful that upwards of sixty staff were taking part, making it easy to dodge Esca all day, carefully avoiding even looking at him. Instead he threw himself into the various games they played, being less reserved than he usually was around his colleagues, just so Esca would think his brush off hadn’t affected him.

The net result of that was that when he returned to his room just after 6pm for a break until dinner, he was absolutely shattered. It wasn’t the physical activity, but just being ‘up’ around so many people for an entire day was draining.

Lying on his bed, it took some effort to reach over to the night stand to retrieve his phone when it went off, but as soon as he saw the caller was Esca, he switched it off. It was primarily a work phone and anyone who was possibly going to call him was here so he wasn’t worried about missing an important call.

His hotel phone going off a minute later shouldn’t have been a surprise. He was guessing it was Esca though why he should be calling after he made it clear to Marcus that that was it, he didn’t know. If Esca had anything to say to him he could do it in front of everyone else at dinner. The shrill ringing finally ended and he closed his eyes, trying to relax before heading to the conference hall’s restaurant for what was likely to be a draining evening.

The organisers had a seating plan with place cards on each of the eight round tables to encourage a cross-departmental mix, and Marcus was pleased to discover the plan left several tables between him and Esca. After the meal, a Whodunnit evening had been organised with actors, each table being a team, and after a laid-back meal where everyone was chilling, the competitiveness that had been evident all that day returned. With supreme effort of will, he avoided looking at Esca the whole evening – even when Esca’s table won, and therefore he avoided any awkward moment with their eyes catching.

As everyone was filing out to go to the bar or their room, Lutorio grabbed him.

“Hey Marcus. Sorry I’ve not had a chance to catch up – crazy day!”

“Yeah,” Marcus smiled. In truth these kinds of events weren’t his ‘thing’ but it didn’t do to let colleagues how he felt.

“So what happened last night?”

Marcus felt a spike of adrenaline for a moment until he realised Lutorio’s question was more general. “We were about eight miles away going down some small country road when Esca’s engine cut out. I told you we had no signal on our cell phones, but the nearest house didn’t have any kind of phone either…”

“Seriously?” Lutorio asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

“Yeah, I know! It was an old couple – not sure they were even a couple – and a bit eccentric. They said the next nearest place was four miles away…oh and Esca’s satnav stopped working at some point so we had no way of finding it.”

“So…?” Lutorio prodded.

“They offered to put us up and then this morning when we tried the car again, it started. Maybe the engine got flooded or something. Weird.”

“So, anything happen?” Lutorio asked, waggling his thick eyebrows.

“Happen? What you mean with Esca? I thought he was straight.”

How he managed to pull that off Marcus didn’t know, but he could see Lutorio looked a bit disappointed, though he didn’t correct him.

“Coming to the bar?” he asked Marcus instead, looking hopeful.

Marcus shook his head with a smile. “You already know the answer to that. I need to chill. I’ll catch you in the morning, okay?” he said, slapping Lutorio’s arm. “Ciao!”

“Ciao, bello!”

It was somewhere close to 1am when Marcus was dragged from his sleep by an insistent knocking at his door and once he was awake enough to be capable of thought, he had a shrewd idea who it was. He ignored it.

“Marcus.”

Esca’s not so quiet voice confirmed his suspicion. He lay there ignoring it.

“Marcus, for fuck’s sake, open up.”

He was better than that. One mistake was enough. He definitely wasn’t going to indulge in a drunken fuck – especially as _he_ was stone cold sober.

Esca must have grabbed the handle as the door rattled. Then there was a loud kick. “Fuck you!” Then silence.

It took Marcus half the night to get back to sleep.

The problem with avoiding Esca, as he managed to do again the following day, was that eventually he was going to have to talk to him as they were driving back together. It was going to be the definition of awkward. He wasn’t wrong.

At two thirty, the people organising the event wrapped it up and for the first time, Marcus looked around the room for Esca. Taking a deep breath and feeling a spike of adrenaline, he grabbed his bag and walked over to him, trying his best to put on a casual air that he certainly didn’t feel.

“You ready?” Marcus asked.

Esca looked at him, his mouth in a thin line, though his face was otherwise unreadable. “You’re not going with someone else?”

“I thought we agreed we were going back to thank Cottia and Stephen.”

Esca looked at him and then turning, headed out the room with Marcus in his wake. He couldn’t help himself, he was only human after all, as he stared at Esca’s ass, remembering how it had felt the second time they’d had sex as he’d grabbed his butt to pull him tighter against him… _Fuck, that so wasn’t a productive thought,_ he realised as his jeans got tighter.

Once in the Beetle, Esca put on the radio loudly as Marcus subsided into his seat and stared forlornly out the window. The sun was on its way down, its warm tone a perfect backdrop to all the trees turning shades of red, orange and golden. He knew objectively that the countryside was looking beautiful, and normally he’d have appreciated the view if he wasn’t feeling so fucking wretched.

“It’s somewhere along this road,” Esca said, breaking the silence between them. Marcus kept his eyes peeled but somehow they missed it as they got close to the main road they’d turned off on Friday night.

“Must have gone past it,” Marcus said. “Can you turn around and go slower this time?”

They did and still they missed it.

“I don’t get it,” Esca said, turning the car around.

“Are you sure we’re on the right road?”

Esca glared at him. “Of course I’m sure.”

This time, Esca drove much more slowly. “Wait!” Marcus said. “There!”

Esca pulled up by the entrance to a museum. “Where?”

“I swear that’s it,” Marcus said, pointing, though he wasn’t nearly as sure as he sounded given the driveway they were looking at was the entrance to a museum. “I remember that wall and the wooden fence.” Marcus stared at the sign proclaiming, ‘Rockbourne Roman Villa’.

“We spent the night in a museum? No. There’s no way we missed that sign.”

By unspoken agreement, they both got out to take a closer look. Marcus would swear this was the place, except for the huge sign. Glancing up the drive didn’t help – they hadn’t noticed it on Friday but it went over a slight hill – the house must be the other side of it.

“It can’t be…” Esca said again, though sounding less sure.

Marcus saw something out the corner of his eye. “Look!”

Esca followed his pointing finger, and there caught in the bush just inside the driveway, was Marcus’ handkerchief.

“Fuck,” Esca frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“Maybe Cottia and Stephen run the place?” he asked uncertainly. “It would explain a lot.”

Their differences temporarily forgotten, they got back in the car and pulled into the driveway. When they got to the top of the incline and the drive fell away in front of them, Esca slammed on the brakes.

“What the fuck?” he said, staring out the window.

Where the elegant buildings had stood, there were only fields. In fact, the only building was off to one side of a small car park, and was a decidedly modern – and ugly – brick edifice. Esca pulled the Beetle up in the almost-deserted lot and they got out in silence, following signs to the entrance. Marcus’ heart was pounding and he felt light-headed, vaguely wondering if he was maybe hyperventilating a bit, as he kept scanning the horizon as if the house would magically reappear.

Inside a plump, middle-aged women with dyed red hair sat behind a counter, looking up from a book as they entered. “Just to let you know we’re closing in an hour, although you’re welcome to look around.”

“Can you tell us,” Esca asked, “Is there a reconstruction of the villa here?”

“Oh no, sorry. This is just the ruins of the original villa. There’s a reconstructed Roman villa at Wroxeter in Shropshire.”

“How about one that’s privately built?” he pressed.

She shook her head. “No, sorry, there’s definitely nothing like that around here.”

“You’re sure?”

The woman frowned. “I grew up in this area, I’d have definitely heard if someone had built a Roman villa. I mean it’s not an everyday thing, is it?”

Apparently convinced, Esca handed her a credit card. “Thanks. Two please.”

Outside, they followed the signs and stared in disbelief. Marcus swallowed hard, the light-headedness definitely getting worse. In the field was the outline of the house and right ahead of them a sign saying ‘Triclinium – Dining Room’. A wall of no more than two feet surrounded a mosaic floor – the _same_ floor they had walked on, on Friday night. He turned to Esca to see him wide-eyed and staring at the floor, too

Marcus began to walk towards a sign that said: ‘The East Bath Suite’, where another small wall surrounded another familiar mosaic floor and he could see the outline of the two baths. Something compelled him on until he was standing beside the room that… he still found it hard to grasp…that they had apparently slept in.

His mind simply refused to accept what was staring them in the face and he had to wonder if he’d dreamed it. But as soon as thought crossed his mind, he had to reject it since there was no way both he and Esca could have shared a dream. An involuntary shiver passed down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold. He needed confirmation.

“Esca…Friday night…that was…where?”

“Here?” Esca looked as bewildered as he was feeling. “I don’t know. I mean…” He shook his head. “…I don’t understand. Honestly, I can’t get my head around it.”

Marcus desperately wanted a rational explanation, but the woman had been clear.

“Are we going nuts?” Marcus asked staring at the point on the floor where their bed had been.

“Maybe,” Marcus said quietly.

The way back to the car involved walking through the building and its small gift shop. There were displays showing some of the artefacts that had been found but it was the artist’s impression of what the villa may have looked like that had them both staring. It was almost identical, right down to the red tile roof.

“That is it, isn’t it?” Marcus said uncertainly.

“Looks like it,” Esca agreed, his voice not much more than a whisper.

It was morbid fascination, Marcus was sure, that drove him on to some of the display cases showing artefacts that had been excavated. There were coins and fragments of pottery: one he couldn't stop staring at was a terracotta plate that had been pieced back together, that looked exactly like the one he’d eaten from.

On the walls were a series of photos. Archaeologists had found the remains of three people – a male and female – evidently the man had died in his early thirties, believed to be a legionary as they’d found a military armilla with him, while the woman had lasted into her sixties and had been placed beside the man at a later date. A second picture showed a separate grave, a young, somewhat smaller man in his mid-twenties had been found, who’d evidently died following a fracture to his skull.

Staring at the second photo, Marcus swallowed hard, a loud buzzing noise in his head making him think he was about to pass, out as a terrible, all-encompassing sense of grief washed over him.

“I need to get out of here,” Esca said, his face pale and drawn.

“Yeah, me too – I feel sick.”

He felt Esca take him by the arm and steer him outside. The stuffy warmth was replaced by satisfyingly cool air and Marcus took several gulps of it once outside, his head still buzzing, his eyes filling with tears. Esca steered him to a bench and sitting down, Marcus leaned forward, still unsure if he was going to vomit or not. He began to shake.

Thinking about it made it worse, so he forced his mind to recall the team-building weekend and some of the things he’d taken part in. The strategy seemed work and after a few minutes the nausea and shaking thankfully receded, though the overwhelming grief was still with him as he wiped tears from his face.

When he glanced at Esca, he looked pale and just as distraught, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “You okay?”

“Not really. My head’s pounding and I feel…I dunno…” He swallowed hard.

“What?” For some reason he couldn’t fathom, Marcus needed to know.

“It’s stupid, because I don’t understand where it’s coming from,” Esca tried to explain. “But I feel like…” he shook his head.

“Like someone precious died?” Marcus said, his voice hoarse as he tried to talk around the lump in his throat.

“Yes, no. Like…” he swallowed again, clearly trying to hold back the tears that threatened. “This is crazy.”

“Tell me,” Marcus pleaded. “It might help me understand.”

“It feels like I went, and left something…someone very special behind." He shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense."

Marcus thought about the young man who’d died from the head trauma and the place his thoughts were going. He would normally describe himself as a rationalist, needing evidence, proof. He’d never believed in ghosts, or an afterlife or reincarnation. But the events of the last few days were forcing him to question his long-held belief that once you were gone, you were gone.

“Do you believe in…” Marcus began, not sure how to word this in way that wouldn’t have Esca laughing at him. “I mean…is it possible we’re picking something up here?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” He extended his hand as if to touch him and then seemed to think better of it. “I can’t explain any of it.”

Marcus needed the contact, needed some form of grounding, and reaching out, took Esca’s hand in his, interlacing their fingers.

“Want to head home?” Esca quietly asked.

“Yeah.”

As the sun dipped below the horizon, they drove towards London, the music not too loud to drown out conversation, though they were both silent. Marcus found his mind skittering away from trying to understand, trying to come up with a rational explanation, so he stared out the window and tried to think of nothing. He was half successful, but the grief wouldn’t leave him and had settled on his chest like a terrible weight. Once they were on the motorway and Esca didn’t need to shift gears, Marcus took his hand again.

It was Esca who finally broke the silence, squeezing Marcus’ hand. “Does this mean you haven’t dumped me after all?”

 _What?_ Marcus turned to look at Esca. “Dumped? I didn’t dump you; you dumped _me_.”

“What are you on about? You made it clear back…at…you know…” he trailed off.

Marcus sighed. “The villa? We can’t deny that happened. And what did I make clear?”

“You pushed me away, which I thought might be because you were worried about us getting caught, but then you went and ignored me the whole weekend.”

Marcus had no idea what Esca was talking about. “Pushed you…?” And then he remembered. “I wasn’t pushing you away – I _was_ worried about getting caught: they’d already been in our room while we were asleep.”

Esca kept his eyes on the road, but Marcus could see his mouth was downturned. “So why the cold shoulder all weekend?”

“I tried to talk to you at the hotel and _you_ pushed _me_ away. I took it to mean you didn’t want to carry on.”

Marcus could see Esca puzzling it out, clearly having no idea, as Marcus began to realise it had been a horrible misunderstanding between them. “You mean right after we checked in and were heading to our rooms, and Liathan was walking behind us.”

“Liathan?”

“Yeah, I wondered if you knew he was there. You sounded like you were about to say something personal like invite me back to your room for a quick shag, so I tried to shut you up. I didn’t mean to do it for the whole weekend!”

Marcus decided he was an idiot. “Yeah, I was thinking about inviting you back to share a shower,” he admitted ruefully. “You’re right, I didn’t know he was there.”

“So you haven’t lost interested in me?” Esca asked.

“No. God no! Not at all. Where are we going?”

Esca had just taken the next turn-off the motorway towards Basingstoke – a long way short of their final destination.

“I’m going to find a dark lane so we can catch up on what we’ve missed out on all weekend.”

Marcus put his hand high up on Esca’s thigh and squeezed, feeling the rough material of his jeans against his palm.

In the end they had to get through the town and out the other side. Marcus had no idea where they were, just that the next town on the road they were on was a place called Silchester. Before they got there, Esca pulled off the road onto a dirt track that led to a field. As soon as the engine was cut and the lights switched off, they moved towards each other in a hard, twisting kiss and Marcus felt like he’d come home.

He needed more and reached out to palm Esca's cock through his jeans, cupping the hot, hard length of him as it pushed up against the walls of its cotton prison. More than anything he wanted it in his mouth, the feel and taste of Esca giving him something else to ground him. Breaking off from their kiss, Marcus reached between Esca's calves, lifting the seat bar and sliding the driver’s seat back to give him enough room to work without being attacked by the steering wheel or gear stick.

Leaning forward, he pressed his face to Esca's erection, feeling it pressing against his cheek, the power of it temporarily leashed. Esca put both hands on Marcus’ head, gently holding him in place as he slowly began to gnaw along the length of the shaft through the fabric of the jeans, working his way up toward the head, mouthing it contentedly and making Esca buck and groan.

Breaking off for a moment, he glanced up to see Esca staring at him, intense and focused, with a small smile playing about his lips.

“Much as I’m loving what you’re doing, I’d love it even more if you weren’t doing it through two layers of material.” As if to make the point, Esca undid his belt, then unbuttoned the fly, pulling it apart to reveal his erection straining against a pair of white briefs.

Still bent over him, Marcus reached out and lifted the flimsy material, peeling it back, releasing a heady smell of musk.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he said lifting the cock away from his stomach and slid down the length of it until he could feel it at the back of his throat and Esca’s pubic hair was tickling his nose.

Above him he heard a sharp intake of breath and felt Esca’s cock get even harder, more engorged. Slowly, he pulled himself up, pausing to lap around the head and suck on Esca’s foreskin before plunging back down the entire length of his cock and holding it deep in his throat, listening to Esca’s slow exhale and moaning while he started to thrust upwards.

Marcus revelled in the feeling of having taken in the whole Esca’s dick, relishing in the knowledge that right then, he totally owned it and, by default, its owner. He slowly slid back up the length, working the head of the hot, swollen flesh, tasting the pre-come that he was leaking as he dipped the tip of his tongue into the slit, eliciting gasps of pleasure.

Marcus repeated his actions for several minutes until he knew Esca was close by the groans and whimpers that were getting closer together. Suddenly, at the same time as the cock in his mouth jerked, Esca tightened his hands on Marcus’ hair as with a long, lush moan, he spilled his hot seed into Marcus’ mouth in five, brief pulses. The taste of Esca exploded across his tongue and he lapped up every drop as though it were the nectar of the gods.

“Shit, you’re good,” Esca said in approval as Marcus sat up, feeling his back pop in appreciation as he straightened up his spine.

His own erection, which was now almost chafing inside his briefs, had so far gone untouched – a point that Esca was quick to remedy. Making swift work of his fly, Esca engulfed his cock in liquid heat and as he bobbed up and down the length, his cheeks hollowed in with the suction, Marcus realised he was so aroused, it was going to be over embarrassingly quickly. His release, when it came less than a minute later, poured into Esca’s waiting mouth as he abandoned himself to pleasure.

In the aftermath, they shared languid kisses, Marcus enjoying tasting himself in Esca’s mouth. When they finally pulled apart, though hands still clasped, Marcus realised that the ache in his chest, and the terrible grief he’d felt had lifted.

“How are you feeling?” he asked Esca, wondering if he was improved too.

“Better. Yeah, a _lot_ better.”

“Me too.”

Esca squeezed his hand, feeling small, warm and solid in his own. They sat in silence for a while, Marcus watching as clouds skittered across the face of an almost full moon.

“So, Friday,” Esca said into the darkness. “Do you have any theories?”

“Not really,” he answered, glad that the thought of it didn’t send him off into another mini panic-attack.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Esca asked when Marcus wasn’t any more forthcoming.

Marcus considered the question and realised there would probably never be an answer. “Not really,” he admitted. “I don’t get _how_ it could have happened. I think I’d rather focus on what the outcome has been.”

“Us getting together.”

“Yeah.”

Esca paused a moment, as though considering his next question. “Do you believe in destiny?” he asked, finally.

Marcus turned to look at Esca, his face lit by the pale moon glow. “I think I do now.”

 

finis

**Author's Note:**

> The final part of this story was published on Halloween.
> 
> Note: Rockbourne is actually the site of the ruins of [this large Roman villa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbourne_Roman_Villa) that dates from the 1st century AD and was enlarged over the next four hundred years before it was finally abandoned. I used [this artist's impression](http://www.new-forest-national-park.com/image-files/rockbourne-roman-villa.jpg) as a reference for my descriptions, but have taken some liberties with the villa's layout. While remains were found there, they were not as I described them. Rockbourne lies about fifty miles south west of Silchester.


End file.
